


Getting To Know You

by andrastesgrace (RoxieFlash), gallifreyslostson



Series: Family Assembled [16]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 04:00:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10801254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoxieFlash/pseuds/andrastesgrace, https://archiveofourown.org/users/gallifreyslostson/pseuds/gallifreyslostson
Summary: The occupants of the tower negotiate a new chapter of their lives.





	Getting To Know You

_“Okay, Pepper, honey, you’re upset, I can see that--”_

_“Oh, can you?  Can you see that Tony?”_

_“Yes, I mean, I said I could, so--”_

_“I was gone for a week, Tony!”_

_“Well, nine days, but--you’re right, I’m sorry, that’s splitting hairs--”_

Peggy fought a smile, glancing at Steve as he shook his head.  There were times it particularly struck her how much Tony was like his father.

“Have you met Pepper?” she asked him.

“Before she came home to find out Tony had acquired six roommates?  No.”

“ _1946?? Oh my god--this is not my life, my life used to be normal--”_

_“To be fair, that hasn’t really been true for at least ten years.”_

_“I should have stayed at Tiffany’s.”_

_“You can **buy** Tiffany’s.”_

_“I could also buy a loft.  By myself.”_

“It...might be time to look into other living situations.”

“Hmm, maybe,” Steve said, looking toward the hall Tony and Pepper had disappeared down.  “I mean, I actually have an apartment but...it’s not exactly much to look at.  I’m pretty sure I’m past due on the rent too, come to think of it.”

“So,” Tony said, coming into the living area again. “Everything is fine.  I’m going to order Chinese and Pepper here is going to have a glass of wine--”

“Glass, bottle, I’m thinking something vintage...” the tall redhead said, trailing after him into the room.

“Of course you are.”

“Miss Potts, if you’d prefer, I’m sure we could find other arrangements--”

“No, Peggy, it’s fine, I was just...surprised.”

Peggy exchanged a look with Steve as Pepper moved past them toward the wine rack.

“Really, it’s fine--”

“Tony promised to let me take a vacation with his credit card if he blew up anything,” Pepper cut in, not looking up from the wine bottle she was examining.  “I’m thinking we’ll have a nice Christmas together.”

Peggy fought a smile as she glanced back at Tony, who looked away as he pulled out his phone.

“Did you know, Pepper, that I once slugged Tony’s father?” she asked, turning back to Pepper.

“Just once?” Pepper asked, and they smiled at each other. “I like you.  You can share my wine.”

“We really need to work on how you make friends, Agent Carter,” Steve said, and Peggy kissed his cheek before following Pepper into the kitchen.

***

Peggy wasn’t entirely sure what woke her up.  Maybe it was Steve burrowing close, or maybe she was still getting used to the new place, or maybe just a strange sense of something wrong.  But one of the first things she noticed, blinking against the lingering shroud of sleepiness, was that Steve was shivering.

She turned with some difficulty, his arms tight around her as they were.  His eyes were still closed, but as he took a deep breath, his teeth chattered.  She frowned in concern, holding a hand up to his cheek--he was warm, but not really more so than usual, with the way he ran hot after the serum.  So, not a fever.  Still, he curled into her like he was trying to siphon off her warmth in his sleep.

“Steve?” she whispered, stroking his cheek gently, and he groaned, another violent shudder running through him before his eyes fluttered open.  “Are you alright, darling?”

He closed his eyes again for a second, then twisted and reached for the heavy jumper hanging from a post on headboard, sitting up to tug it on before snuggling down again.  He pulled the covers up around them, holding her against his chest.

“You’re not too warm are you?” he murmured, pressing his lips to her head.

“No.  Not yet, at any rate,” she told him, brow still furrowed in concern.  After all, he’d been the one able to weather Russian winters with little more than a leather jacket over his uniform and a fire in front of him on the coldest nights.  “Steve--”

“I just...have trouble getting warm sometimes,” he whispered.  “I guess seventy years in the ice had to leave some effect.  Pretty sure it’s in my head, but--”

“Well,” she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek when he trailed off with an air of embarrassment.  “I think that means it’s high time you started getting some return on all those nights you kept me warm on watch, don’t you?”

She wrapped her arms around him and wound one leg around his, and after a moment, the shivers stopped.  She felt his lips on her hair again a moment before his breathing became slow and even once more, and she squeezed a little.  She’d probably wake up needing a cold shower, between his heat and the heavy covers and the early June temperature, but she decided it was a fair trade off.

He’d been cold long enough.

***

“Alright, here’s the deal,” Natasha said without preamble, walking into the kitchen with Pepper.  “We’re stealing your girl for the day Rogers, and this Stark Industries no limit credit card says you won’t argue with me.”

Peggy blinked, and Steve opened his mouth, then closed it again and shook his head.  Pepper rolled her eyes, plucking the card out of Natasha’s hand and stepping in front of her.

“I told you I should’ve handled this,” she said, shaking her head.  “Peggy, we’re taking you out shopping.  You need new clothes from this decade, ones that you aren’t stealing from Steve and actually fit.”

“Not that I mind you taking my t-shirts,” Steve added, slipping his arms around Peggy’s waist.  “You look great in them.”

“That’s your ego talking, Rogers,” Natasha said, and this time, Pepper nodded.

“Peggy needs actual clothes of her own,” she said, then turned to Peggy.  “So, you in? Figured we could make a day of it, shopping, manicures, hair salon, the works.  I could use a girl’s day out.”

Peggy eyed the two women; she’d never got on particularly well with women on the whole.  It wasn’t really a disliking factor, it was just wildly different interests and occupations.  However, Natasha had already proven to be more her ilk--she quite liked the spy who seemed to have adopted Steve like a lost puppy--and she couldn’t help thinking that anyone who could manage to run a Fortune 500 company and wrangle a Stark into something resembling good behavior was someone Peggy could respect.

Also, she really did _desperately_ need more clothes.  The Doctor had been kind enough to let her take a few things from the TARDIS, but her wardrobe was still incredibly limited, and clearly dated to a large degree.

“Go,” Steve said, kissing her hair and taking her coffee cup.  “I’ll clean up breakfast.  Enjoy yourself.”

Peggy nodded, already moving away from him. “I’ll just go change.”

It was hours later when Steve’s reading was interrupted by Pepper and Natasha plopping down on either side of him, Pepper giggling in a way that hinted at a _lot_ of champagne over the course of the day.   He frowned when Natasha grabbed his book and snapped it shut.

“I was reading that.”

“Calm down, bookworm,” she said, petting his shoulder in a way that hinted that she had _also_ taken part in the champagne.  “We’re about to be your new best friends.”

“What?  Why?”

The why became incredibly clear when he looked up to see Peggy enter the room.  His jaw fell open a little when he took in the hair, cut and styled so it once again matched the photo in his compass, and he sat up a little straighter when he noticed the clothes.  The forties style fit her figure well--obscenely so, he’d had plenty of experience trying to _not_ look at her hips and remind himself to breathe--but this was...nice.  Fitted black trousers, high black heels, black vest over a white button up, sleeves rolled and the top buttons popped.  She bit her lip, giving him an uncertain little smile as she spun on her toes.

“What do you think?”

Steve continued to stare for a second, trying to form words and failing.  “Uh. I...think...I have two new best friends.”

He stood, stepping closer and slipping his hands over her waist.  His thumbs brushed over her ribs, hidden underneath the layers of cloth, while she raised her arms to loop them loosely around his neck.

“You like it?”

“I love it.  Do _you_ like it?”

“Strangely, yes,” she said, tilting her head and raising her eyes thoughtfully.  “There’s several interesting developments in fashion, Steve--I’ve never known denim to be quite so ubiquitous.  And the undergarments--my god, this decade understands female comfort so well, not to mention the interesting fabrics and patterns--”

His eyes grew hooded as several...fascinating visions danced through his mind’s eye.

“I could show you those, too,” she said, giving him a sexy smile that would have had him growling if they didn’t have company. Instead, he took her hand, pulling her out into the hall, intent on a very different fashion show that ended up with some very pretty clothes brightening up his otherwise boring floor.

“You’re welcome, Cap!”

***

It was a long time coming.

It took half an hour to finish her hair, sitting at the makeshift vanity in her room and brushing the curls softly against her palm. In this new day and age Peggy had any number of hot tools that she might’ve used to speed the process along, but there was something in the ritual of getting ready - unpinning her hair, letting it fall and then shaping it into place - that was as much a part of the date as the date itself. 

The dress she chose was a deep burgundy, with lips and nails to match, and the outfit finished off with a fine string of pearls and heels just tall enough to keep her from seeming Lilliputian next to her towering date. There was also new pair of nylon stockings--real ones, with proper seams--that had taken some real searching to find, and something lacy underneath that she’d only recently discovered was Steve’s particular weakness.

None of this was strictly _necessary,_ as she’d been constantly reassured by her very modern friends--she didn’t have to put in so much _effort_ , and wasn’t it exhausting?Yes, she and Steve weren’t going to any particular lengths to keep themselves from one another, not anymore, not after the war and their separation made short work of getting familiar. They were familiar now in more ways than she’d ever dreamed, but that was part of why it was so endearing that he’d shooed her off to the room she never used and told her he’d pick her up at six o'clock sharp for dinner and a picture. 

At six o’clock, she was not disappointed. 

“Captain, you are...impeccably on time,” she said with a laugh, opening the door at the knock - but the old joke didn’t seem to register. Instead, Steve’s mouth hung open for a moment when he saw her, before he snapped it shut with effort. 

“You’re _beautiful_ ,” he said, seeming to forget himself as he fumbled with something in his hand. “Um, sorry, hi.” 

“Hello,” she said with a smile - a smile that widened when Steve reached over to pin a small flower to her collar. He stole a kiss when he was finished - a kiss that _might_ have gotten out of hand, if he hadn’t leaned back and cleared his throat. 

“We’d better go,” he said, offering her his arm. “Or, uh,” his eyes drifted back through the door of her bedroom, to the empty bed beyond.

“Yes, I think we’d better had,” she said, looping her arm through the crook of his elbow and giving him a meaningful crook of the eyebrow. “Lest your natural instincts kick in and we’re late after all.”

“No, no, we’re going _out_ ,” he said firmly, with such conviction that Peggy had to giggle.

Peggy laughed, and picked up her purse from the hook on the wall before she shut the door behind them. 

Oh, but did she ever enjoy watching the tips of his ears turn pink. 

Dinner was lovely. Peggy managed to draw two new shades of pink out of Steve, and one particularly delicious smoulder as her hand found his knee under the table. They ate pizza--which she was learning was a ubiquitous food in the modern era, but also rapidly becoming one of her favorites--in a dimly lit shop near the cinema, Peggy sneaking an extra slice of pepperoni while Steve regaled her with things he’d like to show her.

“Have you even seen what a grocery store looks like, now? They’re _huge_ and they have _everything._ Oh, and Disney World, Peggy! You oughta see what Walt Disney did with himself, there’s a whole theme park in Florida. Someday I’m gonna take you.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t been already,” she said. “It seems like the sort of thing you’d love.” 

Steve paused, shrugging and taking a swig of his beer “Didn’t really wanna go alone.”

_Oh, darling._

The cinema, it seemed, was a more casual affair than it had been just...well, just last month, by Peggy’s recollection, but then again _everything_ was a more casual affair. Still, old-fashioned though it might have been, their way of doing things did have its perks. Steve looked very fit in his suit, and as he leaned his arm across the back of her seat she caught the scent of his cologne - something heavenly that he must’ve kept for special occasions, because it was certainly new to her. Her reasons for snuggling in were purely mercenary--during the war she’d never gotten this close to him unless it was cold and miserable, and though she’d had plenty of opportunity since, Peggy had every intention to make it an utterly ordinary occurrence. 

They were seeing a children’s movie, something about a Scottish girl with very large hair and a bow and arrow, but Peggy hadn’t been paying enough attention to remember the name, too occupied with the fit of Steve’s suit to care. Animation had apparently come a long, long way in sixty-five years, but the _real_ show was in watching Steve’s face as he watched it.

He shook his head in disbelief, leaning over to whisper in her ear. “Can you _believe_ this? Tony said it’s all done with a computer.” 

She was regaled with _several_ different things that Tony had said, but hardly heard any of them. There was the long column of his throat to admire, and the way his fingers traced absent patterns on her arm, and an experiment to be conducted on whether or not he would shiver when she laid her hand on his thigh. There was a moment where she was _briefly_ distracted by the movie-- _“I’ll be shootin’ for my OWN hand!”,_ bravo--but after an hour had passed the temptation was just too great. Biting her lip, Peggy leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his neck.

“Peg--” he shivered, and shifted in his seat, his hand coming up to tangle in her hair. 

“Captain Rogers, I am _busy._ ” 

“But, but we’re in--”

Peggy leaned up, cocking an eyebrow. “Surely you know how necking in a theater works.” 

Peggy grinned at his shy smile and nod, and then returned to her good work. She’d spent more than enough time daydreaming about leaving lipstick on his collar, and she had a lot of catching up to do. 

A long time coming, indeed. 

***

“Alright, you, White Stripes, heads up,” Tony said, to absolutely no effect.  He rolled his eyes, nudging Peggy.  “That’s you and Jarvis.”

“Is it?” Peggy asked, glancing down at herself, then at Jarvis.  “I don’t understand, neither of us are wearing stripes, white or otherwise.”

“It’s--nevermind, look, I’ve got something for you,” he said, handing over a cell phone for each of them.

“Will it...explode?” Jarvis asked, looking up from his newspaper and taking the device gingerly.

“What?  Why would--nevermind,” Tony said, remembering who his father was.  “No.  At least, not if you don’t want it to.  They’re phones.”

“How...compact,” Peggy said, turning the device over in her hands.  “It would appear you’ve forgotten the dial, however.”

“Uh, no, it’s--here--”

He pressed the button to wake up the screen, then swiped at it to unlock the phone.  Peggy blinked, staring down at it.  Jarvis watched closely, then repeated the actions on his own device, his eyebrows shooting up as the screen came up.

“I’ve already put all of us in as contacts, so if you need anything--”

“We won’t have to grow hoarse shouting down the hall?” Peggy suggested, then shook her head.  “Honestly, all this technology now, it’s as if your father put something in the water.”

“Only if he started in Silicon Valley,” Tony said, still toying with Peggy’s phone while Jarvis swiped at his phone with narrowed eyes.

“A valley made of silicon?” Peggy asked.  “That seems _very_ Howard.”

“No, it’s--nevermind.  You can text people too, it’s like...telegrams, but faster. Here, look.”

He leaned over, typing out a message to Steve-- _Hey hot stuff, when will I get my hands on that patriotic ass?--_ as he leaned over to show her.

“Then you just press send, and if you press this, you can see any conversations you have going with anyone else.  You can send pictures too--Oh, I can get you a...selfie...stick…”

He slowed to a stop when she got a new text:

_Your room or mine?  I’ve got a few more patriotic parts that wouldn’t mind being explored._

Tony stared at it a second, trying to decide whether it was more disturbing that the text he’d sent was believably Peggy, or that Steve “Yes, my moral compass _is_ stuck at due north” Rogers had replied the way he did.  Both, probably.

“Gross,” he said finally, handing her the phone.  He shuddered when she licked her lips and smiled, turning away.  “Since Cap has apparently mastered the cell phone, you can get the rest of the tutorial from him.  Just...make sure you wash your hands first.”

***

Edwin looked up when Peggy entered the lounge area, looking a little lost.  She didn’t see him at first, just looked around with a faint sigh, hands on her hips. She rolled her eyes with a self-deprecating expression when she did catch sight of him.

“For a place with so many people, it’s astonishing that there would ever be a moment alone,” she said.  “Where on earth is everyone?”

“Well,” he said, pulling his telephone out of his pocket and pulling up the calendar.  Handy devices, these new phones.  “Agents Romanoff and Barton are in Sudan, Mister Stark is currently at a conference in Ontario while Miss Potts is attending a meeting in London.  I’m not entirely certain what’s become of Doctor Banner, but he’ll likely turn up here or on the news in short order.  And, as I’m sure you’re aware, Captain Rogers has left on a rather severely classified mission in India.”

Peggy blinked, staring at him.  “How on earth do you keep track of all that?”

He held up the phone in answer, and she nodded, glancing around again as she hooked a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Miss Carter, are you alright?” he asked after a moment, frowning at her obvious unease.

She shrugged, looking down at her hand as she picked at a fingernail.  “It’s silly, really.”

He continued to watch her until she looked up, and she let out an exasperated sound as she ran a hand through her hair.  “He left in a plane.  Which is completely understandable, because he had a mission halfway around the world, but it’s the first time he’s left since we got here, and in 1945--”

“--that was the last time you saw him,” he realized, then sighed.  “Oh, Miss Carter…”

“Honestly, it’s maddening,” she said, letting out a laugh even as her eyes grew bright.  “I’ve become one of those women I always hated in stories, getting all weepy and mooning about whenever their love so much as left the room.”

“I hardly think the situation is comparable,” he replied softly, and she sniffed, blinking away tears and licking her lips before returning her eyes to his.

“That was the first time I kissed him, you know,” she told him, and he tilted his head in curiosity.  “Before that...blasted plane.  Right in front of Colonel Phillips, too.  I don’t know what came over me, we’d been so careful up until then.”

“I doubt Captain Rogers minded,” he said, arching a brow, and she let out another laugh, one that sounded a little more like herself. “I think there’s an inverse relationship between propriety and wartime, in any case.  There’s far too many moments pressed thin by the weight of last chances to consider ramifications.”

“Perhaps,” she admitted, wrapping her arms around herself as she looked around again.

“I first kissed Anna because she threatened to never speak to me again if I didn’t,” he blurted.  He still had...difficulty talking about her, but this was Miss Carter, and he could think of nothing else to comfort her.

She blinked at him, seeming to confused to remember for a moment that she was sad or worried.  “I beg your pardon?”

“It was after I took her to dinner...that she asked me to.”

“She asked you to dinner?” Peggy asked, a small smile forming on her lips.

“Yes, I’m afraid I made something of a mess of that,” he said, burying his hands in his pockets.  “That, and several articles of clothing.  It may shock you to learn, Miss Carter, that I have not always been the charismatic, charming, debonair Don Juan that stands before you now.”

“Astounding,” she replied.  The faint smile melted after a moment, and she looked for a second more vulnerable than he could immediately recall seeing before, except perhaps in cases involving the vial.  “Were you frightened?  When you went back to England and she was still in Hungary?”

“Terrified,” he answered, without hesitation, and she nodded before looking down.  She looked up after a moment, glancing around as she took a deep breath.

“Well, Mister Jarvis,” she said finally.  “Since it would seem we have the place to ourselves for the time being, how would you like to join me in reviewing some of the cinema we missed?”

Given that his other choices for diversions were cleaning everything--again--or writing another letter to a dead woman to torture himself, an afternoon with only Miss Carter and no expectations suddenly sounded...relieving.

“Miss Carter, I can think of no better way to pass the time,” he told her honestly, finding his own lips twitching in response to her brilliant grin.

***

“Psst, Tasha!”

Nat looked up from her book, glancing around the empty room before twisting around on the sofa to look back at the door.

“You know there’s no one here, right?” she asked Clint. “You don’t have to whisper.”

“I’m trying to get in the spirit of the thing,” he told her.  “Come on, I have something to show you.”

“What is it?” she asked suspiciously, even as she set down her book and got to her feet.

“It’s a secret,” he said, putting a finger to his lips. It never stopped being surreal to be told by a deaf man to be quiet, but she just shrugged and followed.  She’d known him entirely too long to still keep a running catalogue of everything weird about him.

He led her down the hall to what looked like a high school AV room from 1983, which should have been weird given the other insane tech in the tower, but this was Tony Stark so of course this existed too.  He sat her down in front of a screen, standing behind her to start an old reel to reel machine.

“I swear to god, if this is Space Dogs--”

“No,” he said.  “You’re still wrong about that, by the way.  But this is just for you.”

There was a stage with chorus girls in patriotic uniforms, and as the music swelled, a man stepped out from behind the curtains in a very familiar looking outfit--

“Oh my god,” she whispered as the girls began to sing--

_“Who’s strong and brave, here to save the American way?”_

_“Not all of us can storm a beach or drive a tank, but there’s still a way all of us can fight!”_

“OH MY GOD,” she repeated, at a much higher volume, grabbing Clint’s arm.  “Is that really--”

“YUP.”

“Are those _tights_?”

“And _hot pants_ ,” Clint said, grinning widely when Nat glanced back at him.

_“Who will campaign door to door for America, carry the flag shore to shore for America?”_ the chorus girls were asking when she looked back at the screen hands over her mouth as she tried not to squeal in excitement.  “ _From Hoboken to Spokane, the Star Spangled Man With a Plan!”_

The grainy, black and white Steve saluted the audience with a cheeky grin that practically twinkled.  Nat jumped up, climbing over her chair and onto Clint, legs and arms wrapping around him as she kissed him hard.

“This is the best day _ever_ ,” she told him seriously when she released his lips with an audible pop.

“And you haven’t even seen the movies yet,” he told her.

“ _There’s movies??_ ”

She watched the dance sequence three times, and Steve punching an overacting Hitler another four, before venturing on to a movie that was _every bit_ as ridiculous as she’d hoped.  Clint abandoned her at some point only to come back with popcorn, setting another chair next to hers and catching pieces of popcorn she tossed up with his mouth whenever there was a lull in the action.

She decided to save the rest for later, mostly so she could get Bruce and Tony in on the action, but gave Clint another heated kiss before leaving the little AV room as a thank you for giving her the best gift ever, aside from her collection of nutcrackers.

It got a little out of hand, but she wasn’t particularly sorry about that either.

When they did finally make it back to the living room, Clint still tugging his shirt back over his head, the day only got better when she saw Steve on the couch.  He was flipping through some sports channels, one arm stretched across the back while he waited for Peggy to join him, and he raised the remote in greeting when he saw them. To his credit, he only raised one puritanical eyebrow and their slightly rumpled appearance--though, to be fair, Clint pretty much always looked slightly rumpled.

She paused for a second, then danced over to the other couch, whistling quietly as she picked up her book.  She kept her eyes on it even as she caught Steve stiffen in her peripheral vision, continuing to whistle and turning a page nonchalantly.

“Where did you hear that?” he asked, turning his head toward her slowly.

“Oh, some old dance number to sell war bonds,” she said with a shrug.  “Clint found it, thought I’d like it.”

“Why?” he asked Clint, who shrugged as he dropped down on the couch beside Nat, raising his arms automatically when she lifted her legs to his lap.

“Just seemed like something she’d enjoy.”

“Nat--”

“I gotta say, though, as great as that dance number was,” she went on, eyes still on her book, “the movies were way better.”

“The movies?” he echoed, sounding a little strangled.

“Oh yeah,” she said.  “Everything you could want, action, machine guns, blondes in tights...and that was just the leading man.”

“You did fill out those tights rather nicely,” Peggy said, leaning on the back of the couch beside him, and he looked up at her in utter betrayal.

“Et tu, Peggy?”

“What?  It’s the truth.”

“You don’t still have those shorts, do you?” Nat asked, finally looking up at him.  “I bet they’d be great for when training drills turn into impromptu dance numbers.”

“Yeah, okay,” he said, jumping up and taking Peggy’s hand.  “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” she asked, practically jogging behind him.

“I dunno.  Not here?”

“You mean the Star Spangled Man doesn’t have a _plan_?” Nat asked, feigning shock, and he whipped around to point a finger at Clint, who was clutching his stomach and laughing too hard to breathe.

“This will come back on you, Barton,” Steve threatened. “When you least expect it, I’ll--”

“Whatever, man,” Clint said, still laughing.  “Worth it.”

“I am never going to live this down, am I?” he asked Peggy, deflating a little.

“Aw, cheer up,” she said, brushing a lock of hair out his eyes and leaning up to kiss his cheek.  “You did a lot of good on that tour, and raised a lot of money for the war effort.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, still pouting a little.

“And you really did make such a _cute_ chorus girl.”

“Peg!”

***

“Alright, Clint and Natasha, you take the west entrance, Rumlow and his team are watching the back, and Peggy and me will take the front.”

“Make sure you don’t take all the fun,” Nat said, revving up her four wheeler and taking off with Clint on the back.

“Do you think she meant that for you or me?” Peggy asked, adjusting one of her gloves and checking that her gun was loaded.

“Yes?” Steve guessed, and she smirked at him.

He took a deep breath, looking back at the building complex while he waited for everyone to get in position.  It was nondescript but for the soldier patrolling the gated entrance, but it still made him itch as he cast a sideways glance at Peggy. The last time Peggy had been on a mission with him, apart from that...very last one, she’d gotten shot in the shoulder.  She’d been fine, mostly, just a couple of raised scars and a fractured shoulder bone that had healed quickly, but it had shaken him.  It wasn’t that she was a woman, she’d always been more than capable of handling herself.  It was that she was _Peggy_ , one of the only people who genuinely thought he was enough, and the idea of losing her had made him cold to the core.

But now she was with him, here, in 2012, and bored, which meant more missions.  Which was fine--great, even, he liked knowing he had someone watching his back again. He just...wasn’t totally sure what he’d do if something happened to her _now_.

“Steve?”

Steve blinked, realizing suddenly that Peggy was giving him a confused look and tapping at her ear.  Then he heard Natasha call his name on the comms, and he shook himself, focusing back on the moment.

“Right, sorry,” he managed.

“ _Settle a bet for us_ ,” Rumlow said.  “ _Were you making out with Carter_?”

“Yeah, I’m not answering that,” he replied, shaking his head when Peggy grinned.  “Alright, everyone in position?”

With the affirmative from the team, he headed for the entrance with the Peggy, shield and gun at the ready as they crept through the trees.

Peggy held up a hand as they approached, and Steve hung back, just out of sight.  She holstered her gun, taking a deep breath before approaching the guard, and Steve narrowed his eyes at the extra swing to her hips in her close fitting pants.

“Hello,” she said brightly, and Steve rolled his eyes. “Sorry, got a bit turned around, first day, you know how it goes, one minute you’re looking for the canteen, getting your boss some coffee, and next thing, you’re...outside the gate and all the trees look the same.”  She let out a short chuckle, smacking her own head as she let out an exaggerated and audible sigh.  “So, um, I was looking for building seven?”

“Uh.”  Steve almost felt for the guy, he knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of Peggy’s smile.  “Yeah, um, I’m not sure if…”

“Oh, please, it’d be a _real_ favor if we could just...keep this between us.  I’d be...very appreciative.”

Steve huffed out a breath gently and glanced around as she grabbed the guy’s arm and squeezed a little.  He still looked uncertain, until she flashed him another one of those potent smiles.

Steve shook his head and sighed as the guard turned, holding his ID up toward the RFID reader.

“I guess, if it’s your first day, wouldn’t want you to get in too much trouble--”

He was cut off by the butt of Peggy’s gun cracking against his skull as the gate clanked open.  Steve approached then, nudging the guy with his boot.

“I can’t believe he fell for that.”

“Same idiots, different decade,” Peggy said with a shrug, stepping over his prone body and into the complex, then looked back at Steve.  “Are you coming?”

He stared at her a second, then shook his head again as he followed.

“Was that really necessary?”

“You said you wanted to come in quiet and under the radar,” she reminded him.  She glanced up at his...probably less than thrilled expression, and rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, it’s not as if I didn’t know that if things had gone badly, your shield would have spun out of the trees and knocked him out cold before he could even get his gun out.”

“Yeah,” he admitted.  “You know what would have been nice though?  If that had just been Plan A to begin with.  Just saying.”

“Probably, but where’s the fun in that for me?”

He looked down at her warily, all flushed cheeks and bright eyes.  “You are enjoying this _way_ too much.”

She only grinned up at him, her tongue running over her teeth, and he felt a smile come to his own lips in spite of himself.  He had... _really_ missed her.  It was really easy to forget, with everything lost and far away, how much they’d managed to have fun, even during a war.

It felt closer now.

“So,” she said, looking around a corner of a building. “Where do you want to start?”

He looked around her, considering for a second--then stopped when there was an explosion to the south.  He sighed--so much for coming under the radar, but at least everyone was running _away_ from them now.

“By splitting up,” he told her.  “I’m not totally sure where the agents are, and there’s a lot of buildings to cover, even with Nat and Clint.”

“Yes, sir, Captain, sir,” she said, not even looking up as she crept toward the edge of the building.

“Hey,” he said, taking her arm and pulling her back around, lifting his other hand to her cheek as he kissed her.  He ran his thumb over her cheekbone when he raised his head a far too brief moment later.  “Go get ‘em.”

“And you,” she murmured, leaning up to give him another quick kiss before scurrying away.

He went the other direction, bringing his shield back around to his arm.  He used it to break the lock on the first building he came to, only to find himself in a room with eight other very armed and very cranky looking men.

“Hi,” he said, looking around.  “Would you believe that I got lost on my way to the canteen on my first day of work?”  Several guns raised in response, and he sighed, reaching for his own.  “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

It took a few minutes to dispatch all of them, and he put his gun away as he looked over the unconscious, but not dead, bodies.

“Couldn’t just give a guy directions,” he said, clicking his tongue as he left the building.  He was about to check the next one when the ground shook with another explosion, and he booked it in the direction of the sound.  He could practically hear Bucky’s voice in his head, screaming that we RUN AWAY FROM THE EXPLOSIONS, STEVE, YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY, when--

“ _Wahooooo!”_

Steve stopped, blinking as a very large man driving what appeared to be a very small golf cart with a couple of guys hanging on to the top rolled out of the smoke.  There was also a very familiar bowler sitting on the driver’s head, with sergeant stripes stitched on--

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he muttered, watching the golf cart turn into a drift that it should _not be able to do_ before hitting a wall, sending both guys on top into the brick and into unconsciousness.  He looked back at the building currently burning cheerfully, focusing on the small band of men stumbling toward him.

“SHIELD?” he asked.

“Yeah,” one of them answered, an arm wrapped around what was probably a few bruised ribs.  He coughed, wincing, then focused on Steve.  “Hey, you’re Captain America.”

“That’s what they tell me,” he replied, turning back to the golf cart as the large man unfolded himself and made his way toward them.

“Hiya, Cap!”

“Dum Dum Dugan,” Steve said, shaking his head.  He couldn’t even be that surprised, that was just how completely weird his life was now.  Why not throw in another ghost from his past in a building complex in the middle of nowhere, Lithuania?  “We gotta stop meeting like this.”

“What’re you doin’ way out here, Cap?” Dugan asked.

“Extraction,” he said, glancing back at the other men. “Ostensibly.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Dugan said, looking past Steve at the burning building when he turned back.  “I got a little bored waiting for Fury’s flunkies.”

“Thanks,” Steve said, eyebrow jumping.  “At least you found a way to keep yourself entertained.”

“Always do,” Dugan said, grinning at him before pulling him into a bear hug.  “It’s good to see you, Cap.”

“It’s...a little shocking to see you,” Steve replied, pulling back to look at him.  “Alive.”

“Yeah, that’s a...long story,” Dugan told him, shrugging.

“They usually are,” Steve said, smiling.  “It’s good, though.  Really good.  And...it suddenly makes a _lot_ of sense why Fury was so insistent about me being on this mission,” he added, making a mental note to send Fury a new eyepatch or something.  And probably another ten dollars.

“Yeah,” Dugan said, his smile faltering. “Listen, Cap.  I don’t think I was ever as happy as when I found out they found you, and seeing you on the news was--well, I’m a little upset no one invited me to your party in New York--”

“Not.  A. Party,” Nat said, suddenly striding through the smoke with Clint.

“You’re really gonna have to let that go,” Clint told her, notching an arrow and letting it loose to hit another soldier on a roof behind Dugan.

“Anyway, I um...I need to tell you something,” Dugan went on, looking worried and...ashamed.

“What is it?” Steve asked, suddenly concerned. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, it’s…”  He paused, swallowing.  “I lost her, Cap.  I tried to look out for Peggy for you, but I lost her.  I looked for so long, with her brother and Howard, she was your best girl, I couldn’t let you both down, but I lost her--”

“Oh, honestly, Dugan, would you please stop blubbering?” Peggy asked from behind him, and Dugan’s eyes widened before he turned around.

"Hiya, Peg!” he said, and Steve blinked at the genuine cheerfulness in the voice that had been anguished a second ago.  “Long time no see!”

“Too long,” she replied, and even her eyes were a little damp as she stepped closer to hug him.  “I didn’t think you were still around.”

“I didn’t think were around sixty five years ago,” he said, hugging her tight for a moment before releasing her.  “What happened to you?”

“Oh, that’s a--”

“Long story,” he finished with her in unison.  “Gotcha. Well, the point is, you’re okay, and so’s Cap.”  He kept one arm around her, throwing the other around Steve.  “Howling Commandos, down to three idiots who don’t know when to quit.  Still good though, right?”

Steve swallowed hard, pushing away thoughts of who was still missing, then nodded, clapping Dugan on the back.

“Yeah,” he agreed, looking past Dugan for a second to Peggy.  “Still good.”

“So,” Dugan asked, looking between them.  “You two get hitched yet?”

“Oh, for god’s sake!” Peggy blurted out, ducking out from under his arm.  “Do you think Director Fury would _really_ miss him if we left him in Lithuania?”

Steve grinned as Dugan released him, reaching for Peggy and kissing her quickly before Rumlow showed up with a report on the rest of the complex.  Not a bad first mission for her.

***

“By rights, I should have died...hooo, about three years after Peggy vamoosed,” Dugan guessed, clinking his poker chips together and glancing at his cards before putting a chip in front of him.  “Bet five.  Yeah, I took a hit not too far from here from some weirdo Bill had us chasing, ripped me damn near in half.”

“Raise ten,” Peggy said, wearing a ridiculous green visor she’d stolen from Bruce.  “So what happened?”

“Your brother,” he replied, then nodded at Tony when he called.  “Well, and his dad.”

“That’s funny,” Tony said mildly, glancing at his cards.  “He always seemed better with destruction.  Just ask Jarvis--wait, let me leave first--”

“Tony,” Steve said quietly--not quite a warning, not quite not.  “Give him a break.  There’s a lot to your dad you didn’t see.”

“Alert the media.”

“Raise five,” Bruce cut it, throwing his chips into the growing pile.  He caught Peggy’s raised eyebrow and shifted in his seat, looking down at his cards. “So that doesn’t actually answer the question.  I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think ‘Howard Stark happened’ could be a pretty blanket explanation for a _lot_ of things.”

“Too right,” Peggy murmured, fingering her cards as Steve called and dealt another card in the river.  “Although, Bill is somewhat novel.”

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told him,” Dugan replied, rapping his knuckles on the table to call.  “Start out with the basic understanding that you have no idea what your brother is really capable of, and we might be able to get somewhere.” Peggy snorted, raising the bet again. “Anyway, Bill didn’t like me getting hurt like that in the line of duty, not so close to headquarters, and not being able to do anything.  I was one of his first agents, you know--me and Jones and Dernier.  I think he would have had the same reaction if it was either of them.  Never could quite tell though if it was just sentimentality, or the fact that we knew you. Didn’t want to lose that piece, I think.”

“So where does my dad come in?” Tony asked, eyeing Peggy for a second before raising the bet another ten.

“Something he made, he called it the Infinity Serum,” Dugan replied.

“Of course he did,” Bruce murmured.

Steve chuckled as they both saw the bet in turn, adding, “Hey, the Starks have never exactly been known for _subtlety_.  Futuristic technology, explosions, grandstanding...but not subtlety.”

“That much never changed,” Dugan said, shaking his head. “Good god, the stories I could tell about his fights with Thompson, the way he called him out in the papers--”

“Dugan,” Peggy cut in with a tired tone, massaging her temple.

“Right, sorry.  Anyway, this serum, it was something he’d made from the german doctor’s notes--”  He paused as every eye snapped up to meet his.  “Yeah, I thought that might get your attention.  Don’t get too excited.  It was part of it, yeah, but not all of it.  Basically the poor man’s Rebirth.  It helped heal me up, and make it a little harder to get hurt, and apparently keep me alive…”

“Infinitely?” Peggy suggested.

“Near enough, anyway,” he said with a shrug, starting another round of bets.  “None of the extras Cap got, and I sure as hell didn’t get a shield, but I’m still kicking some bad guys asses, and I’ve still got my bowler, so I guess there’s that.”

“Well, it’s good to have you back,” Steve said, reaching over to clap Dugan on the back.

“Same to you, Cap,” Dugan said, pushing his hat up a little as he looked at Peggy.  “So I know Rogers spent the last few decades as a human snowcone, but what about you, Peg? What in blazes happened to you?”

“Would you believe...time travel?” she asked, and he laughed out loud before grinning at her.

“I’ll tell you what, doll, at this point, I’d believe anything.”

“I’ll tell you what I have a hard time believing,” Peggy said, putting her chin in one hand as she leaned on the table. “This...Infinity Serum.  Who else has used it?”

“Above my pay grade, Agent Carter,” he said, shaking his head, while Steve narrowed his eyes at Bruce, who still had yet to call or bet.  The scientist was staring down at the back of his cards, looking deep in thought as he tapped on them absently.

“But not Howard?” Peggy asked.

“Erm, excuse me,” Jarvis said, entering the room cautiously. “Miss Carter, you asked me to let you know when word came in regarding Agents Barton and Romanoff.”

“Yes, Mister Jarvis, everything went smoothly?” she asked. Dugan shot a look at Steve, who shrugged resignedly--there would likely never be a time when Peggy didn’t somehow have her finger on the pulse of literally everything going on around her, whether it directly involved her or not.

“As near as I can tell, yes,” Jarvis replied, looking down at his phone.  “They arrived at the Triskellion in Washington DC twenty minutes ago, and have estimated their arrival back at the tower as--oh dear, sometime between tomorrow afternoon and...next Tuesday.”

“That sounds about right,” she said, nodding.  “Thank you, Mister Jarvis.  Are you sure we can’t deal you in for the next hand?  You must be lonesome out there on your own.”

“I assure you, Miss Carter, I am quite alright,” he replied, ducking his head a little.  “If that will be all?”

She nodded, then sighed as he left the room.  Steve reached for her hand, squeezing gently, and Tony took a long drink from his scotch.  Only Bruce seemed unfazed, still lost in whatever he was working out in his head.

“I don’t think taking the serum seemed like a good idea to old Howie,” Dugan said quietly, his eyes still on the door Jarvis had left through.  “He already had enough ghosts for one lifetime.  Hey, Banner, you gonna bet, buddy?”

“Huh?”  Bruce looked up, blinking when he realized everyone was looking at him.  “Oh, yeah, sorry, raise ten.”

“Alright, cards out,” Steve said as everyone met his bet.

“Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me,” Peggy burst out when all the hands were revealed to give Steve the pot with a full house, beating out Peggy’s pairs and Bruce’s three of a kind.  “You never even raised!”

“I didn’t have to,” he said, winking at her as he collected the chips.  “You did all that for me.”

“Unbel _ieve_ able,” Peggy snapped, sitting back with her arms crossed and huffing.

“Ah, don’t take it so hard, Peg,” Dugan said, collecting the cards and shuffling them quickly.  “Soon as you make an honest man out of Rogers, half those winnings will be yours.”

“Half that pot _is_ mine,” she muttered, even as Steve grinned and stood, pausing at her chair to lean down and kiss her cheek.  “You’re lucky I adore you.”

“Yes, I am,” he said, making his way into the kitchen for another beer.  “And if you start playing your cards better, I might even let you make an honest man out of me.”

“ _Better_?”


End file.
